That war is hell is of course nothing new. We see it almost daily on the news and war movies and series also show the horrors. Whether that is Vietnam or the second world war. In recent years, the first world war has again become the subject or part of films. For example, Wonder Woman partially took place in this setting and last year Peter Jackson impressively succeeded in transforming the existing jerky black-and-white images into a smooth, colored and narrated document about how the soldiers’ lives in the trench war looked like. And with 1917, director Sam Mendes brings the First World War to the big screen in a way that has never been done before. Continue reading
Parasite (2019) – Review
I have always had a weakness for Alfred Hitchcock’s films. A director who was able to place ordinary people in special situations and defined what suspense is. It is a feeling that I also got while watching Parasite. The latest film from director Bong Joon-Ho (who previously made Okja, Snowpiercer, Mother, Memories of Murder and The Host, who just like Hitchcock, is a master at making films and offers the viewer a wonderfully unpredictable film in which the tension is constantly increased until it is almost unbearable. Continue reading
Anya Raza Biography
Anya Raza is a Pakistani and Dutch film producer, script writer and activist living in New York City. She likes to deliver her messages to the public via films and documentaries that she has a close affinity towards. She has extensive experience in the non profit sector as a Kiva Fellow, and with the help of these experiences she motivates and encourages people through the magic of her documentaries. She believes that movies are the best medium for conveying important and socially significant messages to mass audiences. In her films you can find a healthy mix of aspiration, motivation, and comedy. Continue reading
James May: Our Man in Japan – Series review
Most will know James May from the older seasons of Top Gear and their new Amazon version, The Grand Tour. Nevertheless, “Captain Slow” has also presented other programs over the years, one of my personal favorites being James May’s Toy Stories, in which he made huge versions of childhood toys, such as a real Lego home. May is always the most serious of the three at The Grand Tour and comes across as someone with a lot of knowledge. He made this new 6-part series for Amazon in which he travels through Japan with his film crew. It is a country he has visited many times, but here he saw places and did things that were new to him. Continue reading
One Day at Disney (2019) – Review
Since the worldwide release of Disney+, the service releases new content every week. The amount cannot be compared with, for example, Netflix (it is much less) and the strategy is different (weekly release of new episodes from, for example, The Mandalorian, Forky Asks a Question or The Imagineering Story instead of releasing whole seasons), but the service tries to ensure that you return regularly. The documentary One Day at Disney was recently released, which covers a part of the book One Day at Disney Making Magic Every Day and can be seen as a companion piece. Ultimately, it is intended that more individual episodes follow. Disney is known for its magic, but does this documentary also capture that? Continue reading
I Lost My Body (2019) – Review
The perspective that we have has a huge impact on how we see the world. This can be based on ideas, but also on a physical level. As a child I was always curious what the top of a car looked like (that turned out to be a disappointment when I was older), but filmmakers also use perspective to present the world differently. In E.T. Steven Spielberg often placed the camera at the level of the children, so that you were experiencing it from their perspective. But also Honey, I Shurnk the Kids or a Marvel film like Ant-Man show how different your world is when you experience everything when you are just as big as an insect. The perspective in I Lost My Body can rightly be called unique, because there are few films that show you what you experience as a hand without a body. Continue reading
The Movies That Made Us (2019) – Review
As someone who grew up in the 80s, I always have a nostalgic feeling about my childhood (like probably everyone has). The Netflix series The Toys That Made Us therefore was something I loved, because the subject was toys from that era. It is a fun series to watch because of it’s quick and often funny editing. When it was announced that The Movies That Made Us would be released, I was very curious if this concept could be translated to films. The first four episodes are about four extremely successful films: Dirty Dancing, Home Alone, Ghostbusters and Die Hard. Continue reading
The Irishman (2019) – Review
A new Scorcese film creates high expectations and The Irishman is no exception. This director is a walking film encyclopedia and has made several classic movies. Add to that the fact that he again cooperates with Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci (with whom he made Goodfellas and Casino) and also Al Pacino, which makes this a title that you want to watch as quickly as you can. After a very short time at the cinema The Irishman is now available on Netflix. Can Scorcese deliver another classic? Continue reading
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – Review
The Terminator franchise has built a strong foundation with its first two films, which are considered classics. However, it is a shame that there were no films after that which managed to reach the same level. Although I did enjoy Genisys, but not everyone had the same opinion. With Dark Fate, Linda Hamilton returns to this series and the question is to what extent that adds something. Is Dark Fate a return to form? Continue reading
Poker Queens: Glamour, Glitz, Guts, Glory: They’re All In — A Poker Documentary
“Less than 10% of poker players are women.” This fact flashes onscreen during the teaser trailer for the upcoming documentary, Poker Queens, which is slated for release in November 2019 via Amazon Prime. The trailer goes on to explain how the biggest poker tournament in the world —the World Series of Poker (WSOP) —has never had a female champion, and how this might soon change. Continue reading